Foxe’s Bookof MartyrsBeing a History of the Persecution of Christians, in AllAges; Containing Also a Brief History of the Bible;Telling How the Bible Has Been Preserved to Us, andExplaining Its Principal Revisions and TranslationsbyJohn Foxe

Foxe’s Book of Martyrs

Being a History of the Persecution of Christians, in All Ages; Containing Also a Brief History of the Bible; Telling How the Bible Has Been Preserved to Us, and Explaining Its Principal Revisions and Translations

by John Foxe

Excerpt

Appalling as some of these accounts of man's inhumanity to man may be, yet it is only by their preservation that we, who live in happier times, can properly appreciate the blessings we enjoy, and be enabled to compare our present freedom with the tyranny and injustice of earlier days. But a few hundred years ago the most cruel punishments were inﬂicted, not merely upon criminals dangerous to the State, but upon innocent men and women, the best and noblest people of their time, whose only offence was a refusal to renounce their faith in a religion dearer to them than life.